The Fox and the Hound (er Jackals)
by Jaden Silver
Summary: Agent Fox wasn't just trained for infiltration. He was literally built for it. Four human scientists got together one day to create what some might consider the ultimate intelligence operative. Of course, you wouldn't think this to look at the boy. Now, he just wants to know how he was made. It'd be a lot easier without religious zealots and crazy doctors getting in his way.


**Alright, first thing. Most of the credit for this piece goes to my amazing co-author who goes by the name lilfoxkit. He and I have been working on a story for a while now, and this is sort of a teaser trailer sneak peek into that world. It merges a story he began writing with my own universe from Chemical Imbalance. Anyway, before I start babbling for too long and stop making sense (as I tend to do), I'll end by telling you that this guy's awesome, the story is awesome, and I think you'll not only love this oneshot but the full story it'll eventually be connected to. So please, sit back and enjoy.**

**(Note: this is rater M for some pretty severe child abuse. Anyone who's sensitive to this subject, please approach at your own risk.)**

* * *

><p>Dr. Vladimir stood quietly to the side as the screeching of rubber tires against steel filled the hanger. With a small sigh, the red-headed male slipped his hands into the pockets of his white lab-coat. "Ah, boyo, why do you always disappoint me?" he asked himself in a soft tone while watching the air-ship's bay doors open. Immediately a small boy of about five or six years old exited the ship. The doctor made his way over to the child, receiving a salute from the boy the moment he realized the larger male had approached. The action gave the doctor a moment to take in the brown haired boy's features; his eyes were a deep sea-foam green color while his skin held a tanned complexion which was complimented with a button nose and a few freckles spread just right across his face, all carefully calculated and as it should be. The most unique feature about the boy, however, was the set of steel colored armor he wore across his body with a Recon-styled helmet in his hands.<p>

"Sir, the missi-" the boy began, only to be silenced by his superior.

"I know," Vladimir said, effectively cutting the child off before he could even begin speaking. "All squad members lost, artifact abandoned, and my armor has taken damage," he recited in an annoyed voice, as if the talk of death or the fact that he was yelling at a child made no difference to him. Reaching into his pocket, the man pulled out a small handle that looked like it belonged to a knife, though it held no blade. However, with the mere flick of his wrist, a blue blade of pure plasma erupted out only to be jammed into the child's throat.

The brunette let out a soft scream, causing more blood to splatter out, most of it finding its way onto the deranged doctor's coat. Vladimir continued stabbing the boy with vicious strikes meant only to vent his anger upon the dying child, his face eerily calm for the act he was committing. This continued on for several minutes until the doctor was panting heavily as he dropped the blade onto the floor. The child lay on the ground, unmoving in a pool of his own blood. There were a few moments of near silence, broken only by the doctor's gradually slowing breaths, before the child began to twitch back to life.

"Get up, Agent Fox," the doctor ordered coldly. "You have another mission tomorrow. Try not to disappoint me again." Without another word he turned away, not even bothering to watch the miraculous way the boy's injuries were healing. He'd seen it before.

Fox waited until Dr. Vladimir was gone before daring to move or even breathe. When he did he began making small choking sounds. He told himself it was just his throat clearing away the blood and that he definitely wasn't crying.

Several minutes passed before he too, left the room, somewhat glad that the facility was manned by the numerous AI's that filled the base as to avoid human contact. Still, the boy made his way down the dark, poorly lit halls with a slightly sadden look about him. "I do not understand," he said, his voice ringing down the empty halls. "Why are human's so frail?"

"Because Agent Fox, you were designed by a team of scientists for this very purpose. Given your body is the host of the Alpha Cell, this indices rapid healing, repair to any and all genetic repair and a variety of other benefits," replied a robotic voice from no particular location. It was the exact opposite in fact, as it seemed to be coming from every point in the hall, giving it an ominous effect.

"Thank you Zero, but that's not what I meant," he said in a cold tone, one that wasn't meant for a child his age. "I will be in the training room, please alert me if Dr. Vladimir requires my assistance."

"Of course, Agent Fox," the AI replied.

Fox entered the training room and was greeted with his usual setting. He was the only one to ever use the room, so he never bothered reverting it back to the basic set up when he left. It was easier this way, to just step into the room and have everything exactly like it was before, as though he'd never left. He could almost imagine it was real, that he'd simply gone to bed after his last session and was now returning the next morning. He could pretend the last disastrous mission hadn't happened, that he hadn't watched his newest squad-mates die as the objective slipped through his fingers, that he hadn't once again disappointed his creator, and that he wasn't once again covered in his own blood and still shaking from the effects of rapid healing.

Fox took a deep breath, willing the tremors to leave his body. He needed to focus. He needed to be better for the mission tomorrow.

His eyes narrowed into deadly slits as he charged with a surprising burst of speed, his muscles tightening up well beyond normal human limitations to allow him to jump into the air, only to land right next to a large, humanoid training dummy. Curling his clawed fist, he quickly shot his arm out, listening to the sickening rip of plastic, cotton and synthetic skin tearing apart as the head fell to the ground. Giving a small pant, he saw three more such figure's materialize right behind the original. Pulling out a small, dull looking knife, the boy went to his next target.

Fox seemed to lose track of time, having evolved from training dummies to motion sensors to the projectile launchers in a matter of two hours. Looking up, he saw an old, twentieth century car being flung at him from his blind spot; rolling over, he barely managed to dodge being squished by the two ton transportation device.

This wasn't part of the program. He had created this environment himself, and he would have remembered adding cars hurtling toward his head, which meant that someone had been changing things. "Who the fuck is throwing car's at me?!" He yelled at the observation deck, only to see the sadistic smile of a lab aide while she toyed with the control panel.

The intern leaned down to speak in to a microphone, allowing her voice to echo throughout the training room. "You've obviously already memorized the usual course," she said. "I thought it was time to give you a challenge." As her words ended a ring of turrets rose from the floor and aimed at the boy. At the same time the panels in the floor began to fall out from underneath him, revealing dangerous looking metal spikes.

"FUCK YOU!" He screamed, having come to the room to relax and try and forget who he was and what he was made for. Jumping up, he quickly found himself sitting on the small ledge provided for one of the hologram projectors, though he had to be careful not to break it. Fox was safe as long as he stayed outside of the room's surface field, though this was only two inches at best. "Zero, I am not made to survive in such environments without specialized equipment. Please terminate the simulation."

"I cannot do that, Agent Fox; the director himself has ordered for a change in routine. You have ten seconds to re-enter the stage."

'So this is my punishment,' Fox thought. He'd thought the doctor had been too easy on him earlier. Normally a failure as catastrophic as his would have warranted far worse than the stabbing he'd received. Fox took a deep breath before dropping back into the room. He didn't want to guess what would happen if he didn't obey Zero's order in the time allotted. It would probably be much worse than the turrets he now faced.

The very moment that that his feet hit the ground, bullets began raining down on the toddler, only to be easily dodged by the fast footed boy. The lab aide watched in amusement as Fox did various acrobatic acts, even kicking off some of the tiles as they fell to the to the spiked floor below. In reality, he wasn't in much danger as the room was nothing more than a holographic environment that was ran by the facilities main AI Unit Zero. It could cause no real harm to its occupants but it was synced up to Fox's cybernetic implants and pain receptors. He couldn't die in here, but it would hurt like hell.

Making a mad dash to the outermost of the turrets, he aimed it at the turret closest to reaching his body which effectively ripped it off its hilt. "Let's see," he said in a calm voice as he looked around the room. "3.32 seconds," he announced while placing his right foot against the joint of the turret. Giving it a massive pull, his muscles began to visibly break under his skin, only to repair themselves near instantaneously, as he tore the turret off and started running across the room. Every second, another loud popping noise could be heard as he fired the mobile turret, only discarding it once it completely over heated and burned his hands.

Something caught the corner of his eye and out of instinct he turned around, only to see a large shadow quickly falling towards him. Fox barely dodged the falling obstacle, this time a large piece of a building rather than a car. Unfortunately the panel he stepped on disappeared beneath his feet. Before he had a chance to leap to safety, the boy was falling. He looked down as he fell and at the last moment turned so he was standing between two spikes, each as tall as he was. Fox took a moment to catch his breath; glad the angle of the turrets didn't allow them to hit him in his hiding place.

Just as Fox was beginning to enjoy that moment of relief, the ceiling began to drop toward him. Within a second it was mere feet above his head, though its progression slowed once he was boxed in. He glanced up and realized that the ceiling had also developed spikes. Fox frantically squirmed his way between the spear-like protrusions in the floor, but couldn't see an escape. "This isn't fair!" he shouted up to the control room, counting the seconds before the ceiling's spikes reached him. "There's no way out!"

"There's always a way out," the intern's voice came back. "You just have to see it."

With a loud grunt, the Agent looked around frantically, knowing that in mere seconds, the spike's would pierce his skin and send waves of excruciating pain throughout his body. "Seven by twenty nine, carry the two...GOT IT!" He said with a defiant grin as he started to rapidly punch the steel walls that encased him; the way the room worked was that after syncing up with the user's bionetic senses, it projected an ever moving reality with only five main weak points, the first three were the projector's in the room which provided the environment while the ground below him constantly shifted around to give the feel of a changing environment, the fourth was the observation deck and the last was the wall which, assuming his calculations were right, he was right next to. This gave him about half a second before Zero could figure out what he was doing and change the environment accordingly. All he had to do was punch though the reinforced steel wall and he could exit.

A sickening crack could be heard as he ground his tiny hands down until rapidly healing bone began to show though, only to heal up by the time he threw his next punch. Though the observation deck, the lab aide held a panicked look on her face when she realized what was going to happen. Fox had no sense of morality and was willing to sacrifice any living being to complete a mission and that often transferred over in-between missions.

"Fuck..." She whispered to herself.

Dr. Vladimir often warned the staff to avoid his demonic creation lest they find themselves terminated as the boy was prone to very violent outbursts if he felt threatened. Similarly, if someone pushed him hard enough, he would hunt them down just for the joy of it. Turning off the now useless holo-chamber, she bolted out of the lab, trying to put as much distance between herself and the monster two decks below. If she could manage to hide her scent within the many other's that entered the observation deck on a daily basis, she thought she just might be able to avoid Agent Fox.

The metal wall finally split under Fox's many punches, creating a small crack. It was just big enough for him to fit his head and shoulders through, and he pushed and struggled to get out. Eventually more of the wall gave way and he tumbled through, leaving a few scrapes of skin behind on the jagged metal. Fox glanced back just in time to see the spikes reach the level of his head, wincing at the thought of what would have happened had he still been in there.

After taking a few moments to catch his breath, the boy stood. He knew Dr. Vladimir wouldn't be happy about the damage to the chamber, but he couldn't be bothered with that fact at the moment. Right now he wanted to find that lab aide. Not only had she deliberately tried to hurt him, but she'd effectively destroyed a program he'd spent months perfecting. Fox had worked hard to design the perfect training session to help him relax after difficult missions, and now it was all gone, along with any chance of forgetting what'd happened that day. She needed to pay for that.

Fox tossed his head to the right, causing it to crack as joints in his neck shifted places, only to do the same for the left as he stretched out his freshly healed body. Looking around, he noticed the hallway was pitch black, though this wasn't much of a surprise. A large majority of the facility remained unlit due to the lack of need for it. In total, Fox knew of twenty seven official employees' for the project though unlike most of the projects that he knew of, his was rather large in employment.

"Alright you bitch, let's start the games," he muttered to himself as he started running down the halls. He moved faster and faster as his eyes adjusted to what little light bounced off of the walls from the hole he left in the wall. They were only a few particles by the time he reached the center of the facility, though this didn't matter much as he knew he'd be reaching the stair well, which happened to be populated by LCD lighting, soon.

Fox slowed his pace when he reached a populated area of the facility, trying to look casual as some engineers ran in the direction of the destroyed holo-chamber. This was difficult to do, however, as most of the staff recognize him instantly. He had no doubt they all knew whatever disturbance was going on was his fault. Not that they'd say anything, of course. Anyone who'd worked here more than a month learned quickly to heed Dr. Vladimir's warnings about the boy. The majority of the facility's staff gave him plenty of room to walk past as he continued his search.

What he lacked in imagery and scent, he well made up for with voice as most of the staff members did continue talking which forced him to keep his ears open for the female who tormented him over the last hour. At first, it seemed like she may have become lost within the small crowd that stayed within the facility, each being separated by their own color-coded badge around their shirt. Red one's for engineer's, green one's for the few scientists, black one's for the janitorial custodians, and once and a while he'd see a silver badge which meant they were the technicians that kept the more advanced technology up and running. Out of the group, he knew that only those wearing a green or silver badge were allowed within the observation deck which helped narrow down his suspect as it was.

"Agent Fox, Dr. Vladimir wishes to see you in the research chamber." Zero announced as Fox walked down the nearly empty hall after the staff dissipated down the halls behind him.

"Affirmative, Zero," he replied with a sigh, it seemed his search for the aide would go on hold for a while.

Fox rushed to the research chamber, hoping arriving as quickly as possible might help negate the doctor's fury. He stopped just outside the door, taking the time to set his face to a professional expression. He wanted to hide the anger he still felt toward the aide, as well as any fear he denied would soon arrive. He had no doubt Dr. Vladimir wanted to discuss the damage to the training room.

Once he felt ready, Fox pushed open the door and walked inside, ready to face whatever awaited him.

Much to his surprise, the boy found not just an upset looking doctor but the very female he had been hunting. "Good evening, Director." He paused a moment to read her ID badge. Dr. Crusher. "Is there anything I may be of assistance with?"

"Oi, boyo, we talked about this before," he said, sounding more like a parent scolding their child then the demented scientist he was. Fox gave a small sigh. It seemed bipolarism ran heavily within the doctor's mind, not that he had much to say about the subject himself.

"Yes sir, but I felt the actions I took were necessary to escape the variables Crusher had set before me. If I had another means of escape, I assure you, they would have been taken."

The man's expression didn't seem to change at all at the excuse. He gave a small, tired sounding sigh. "What is the most important part of your mission?" he asked.

"The objective, sir," Fox answered mechanically. This had been drilled into his mind since his memories first formed. The objective came before anything else.

"The objective," Dr. Vladimir confirmed, nodding. "You are trained in the location and retrieval of highly valuable, and often times fragile, equipment and information. You are designed to survive great amounts of damage so that, in the event the objective is in jeopardy, you may protect it at all costs." The doctor stepped closer to Fox, bending down slightly to look him in the eyes. "You are not meant to put your life or wellbeing above that of your equipment," he said severely. "You will heal. Your equipment will not."

"Yes sir, I'm aware of the purpose for my creation and my use in your project. But if I may, what is the reason that I have been summoned?" He asked in the sane tone he used for mission briefs. It was a voice that held no humor or any emotional at all for that matter.

"The objective you lost today," the doctor said. "There's a chance you can still retrieve it. I've arranged for you to be sent on a mission with a group of ODSTs. They will escort you to the objective, at which point you will retrieve it and take it back to the ship, with any means necessary." He produced a holo-pad containing the mission's details. "This will be your last chance to retrieve this artifact," he said as he handed the information over.

Taking the pad in hand, his sea foam-green eyes scanned the device rapidly. There wasn't much use for the information that was presented to him however as he already knew a mass majority of it. Handing it back over, he turned his attention to the lab aide. "Under article 32, subsection 9; you are subject to termination due to malicious use of Project Recycle property," he stated. Without any more warning he drew the same deceptively dull looking knife from his side as before and drove it into the woman's stomach. She fell to the ground with a gurgling gasp and stared up at the boy, eyes wide with shock for the few second it took to bleed out.

Fox turned his attention back to the doctor, face still mostly void of emotion, though it was colored by a touch of satisfaction. "Sir, I will prepare for the mission at once. And my apologies for the destruction of project property. I will gladly accept any form of punishment you wish to give," he said in a submissive tone.

"Just clean up your mess and get ready," the doctor ordered, sounding only mildly annoyed that he'd lost yet another lab assistant. "The outcome of your mission will determine any punishment."

The child looked down at his hand, cocking his head to the side at the sight of blood still coating his skin. Reaching down, he started to wipe it off on the lab aide's coat, making sure to thoroughly clean off his armor plating. As a glint of light reflected off the steel coloring, he traced it back to the various deep blue accents that traced across the shoulder blade and chest. "Sir, thank you for this latest upgrade," he said, true gratitude in his voice. "It has thoroughly enhanced my combat abilities and the nano-repair technology compliments my natural healing abilities well," he finished with a bit of pride.

"Good, now go prove your previous mission otherwise." The geneticist replied with a gruff tone that didn't seem to fit his figure.

Shooting a salute, Fox turned around and darted out of the lab, fully oblivious to the looks of fear and disgust he was receiving from the various military employees. He learned early in his life it was best to tune them out unless he wished to go insane. In reality, he hated what he had to do, though it wasn't for the reasons most would assume. It wasn't the fact that he had to constantly take human life; that meant little to him. Similarly, the constant abuse from his "father" gave the boy little concern. Instead, he found the lack of freedom he was allowed caused the roots of his hatred. Making his way to the hanger, he saw a squad of fully armored Special Forces Marine's standing at attention.

"Agent Fox, sir," one of them said, who Fox noticed was a Staff Sergeant. "It is an honor to be working with you again."

"At ease," Agent Fox replied, giving them a small, dismissive wave. "Today's mission will be simple, the UNSCMC has been kind enough to put you helljumpers under my command in order to retrieve a very special artificial found in a classified location. Your objective is to make sure I get in the general location, then report back to the ship and wait for my evac call. Any questions?"

Fox scanned the marine's out of habit, and much to his surprise, one of them in fact did raise their hand. "Sir?" One of them asked nervously. It was obvious to Fox that he was still a Private. Fox gave him a nod to continue. "Um, if you don't mind me asking, what are you? I-I mean I've heard rumors of a child sized Spartan but I didn't think they were true."

The male's question caused Fox to let out a small sigh; he had his armor from the publicly discharged Spartan-II program like most of the other Special Operation's programs. The Spartan program just happened to be the oldest of them all, having formed well before the war started almost thirty years ago while his was only a few years old at best. "I am Special Agent Fox of the Recycle Program, unlike my Spartan counter-parts I was created in order to assist in the war effort by retrieving special information and devices that are considered unattainable otherwise. I am not a Spartan-II and I am solely of this program. Any other questions?"

"Why do you look so young?"

"That's classified private; now get your arses in the ship before I terminate you."

"Y-yes, sir," the private stammered, the rest of his squad repeating the phrase in a more professional tone. The line of soldiers quickly filed into the ship. Fox followed them, sighing. He hated when people asked that. It meant at least one person in his new squad was going to have trouble taking his orders. They'd think of him as a kid in battle, and either disregard his orders or, even worse, try to protect him. He just hoped the stupid private was the only problem he'd have to deal with.

Walking over to the cockpit, the brown-haired boy gave a light knock to the door, signaling the ship's AI to start the ship.

Fox sat in the copilot's seat, back aimed toward his squad. He could still feel their eyes boring into the back of his head. It didn't matter. As long as he didn't have to sit in the back with them, and consequently get asked more questions, he was fine.

"Agent Fox, Director Vladimir has given you direct authorization to take manual control of the ship if necessary; however I would advise against such acts as I am more than cap-"

Fox grunted before cutting of the robotic voice. "JaN, I am more than capable of understanding that you are the auto-pilot function," he said with an annoyed tone. He had to go through this routine every time he went on a mission, though it wasn't the AI's fault, it was just doing its job after all. "Please, start the ship and go to the given coordinates." He said, trying to use a calmer tone.

Within a few seconds of the command, the orbital drop shock trooper's and Agent Fox found themselves zooming through an asteroid belt that protected much of the planet in a natural camouflage. Looking down, Fox pulled out a small, holographic display pad as he began reading past files in order to pass the time.

"Data Entry 11932,

From: Director of Project Recycle

Subject: Funding

To my dearest benefactor's,

I must thank you for your generous contribution to my program; as you know, it was started in order to try and recuperate some of our heavy losses from the Spartan-II program in the form of specialized rehabilitation and cloning. However, my knowledge is not limited to this one area of expertise and while the Samson Council has been more than generous with its giving has, I require some extra resources in order to create three side programs. The programs I have in mind are one that would greatly benefit our returning soldiers in the form of specialized stem cells, another in the form of healing the body on a cellular level to even regrow limbs in a natural form to avoid the need for prosthetic's and a third would be the subject of a different program; we will give the results of such program once myself, as well as two associates of mine feel that it has been a rousing success. Of course it wouldn't violate any of our established laws and guidelines by we feel that it is best to avoid talking about it in open channels."

- Dr. Vladimir, Director of Project Recycle

Fox glared at the page before him, he may not have known of every law but he was almost certain that whatever he was, wasn't legal. Still, he had a job to do and nowhere else to go so he did what he was told. Flipping over to the next page in the archive's revealed a rather interesting response.

"Data Entry 11936,

From: The Chairman of the oversight-subcommittee.

Subject: Funding and review

Dear Director of Project Recycle, while we feel that we may allocate the funds you have requested for all three of your side projects, we are indeed curious as to what results your joint-effort program will yield. We will of course give you the allotted time as designated by our own bylaw's 1825 day's from the moment the funds have been transferred over to yield such results. Otherwise you and your fellow researcher's will be forced to pay for the funding out of your own pocket with interest. We are not above the honor system even in this time of war, but I do hope for your sake, as well as our own that you are not doing anything that would bring shame upon yourself. Goodday Director. I will be expecting results soon."

Fox had to resist the aggression that had built up inside of him, every fiber of his being screamed for him to throw the data-pad against the steel deck below, though that wouldn't do any good and would surely result in punishment from his master. He had read those two same entries hundreds of times, to the point that they'd long since been committed to memory and now served as a ritual. He didn't know who these associates of Dr. Vladimir were, but he was sure as hell going to find out when he got back.

Up until this last week, due to his specialized cybernetic implantation, he was never allowed to interface with a computer system as he was what Vladimir called, an "organic smart artificial intelligence." In reality, this simply meant he had the ability of a smart AI and could even interface with computer systems like one even though he was human.

Fox took careful breaths, willing his pulse to slow back to normal levels, trying to control his frustration. Dr. Vladimir had finally decided it was time for him to test his ability with computers. For the first time in his life he had the opportunity he needed to find out how he was made. And of course, just as he was about to do so, he'd failed a mission. Now this recovery mission he was on, to retrieve the artifact he'd lost, was taking away his chance. He knew he only had a small window to find the truth. Dr. Vladimir would only leave his implants off long enough to test his ability. If they were shut off again before he could search for some answers, he'd never get another chance. Fox had to complete this mission as fast as possible. He had to figure out how he was made. He couldn't handle not knowing anymore.

The craft began to shake as they entered the atmosphere, not that it mattered much to Fox. He was fully equipped as long as he had on his armor to survive a high atmospheric fall to the surface and even if he broke something, it or he would repair itself. Still, knowing he would survive a crash didn't affect motion sickness. With a grunt, he slapped the center console as if trying to command the ship to stabilize for entry. "JaN, can't you do this any better?"

"My apologies, Agent Fox, but due to atmospheric conditions, I am unable to land our ship with a smooth landing. However, I would be thankful that this is a recovery mission and not a stealth mission." He reminded the boy.

"Right," Fox agreed. He held onto the console in front of his seat instinctively until the craft finally landed. Once it did he walked to the back of the ship. The rest of the squad were rising to their feet, looking no worse for wear from the bumpy landing. Of course, ODSTs would be used to this sort of thing.

"Alright, let's move," he called as the back door of the ship slid open. Fox jogged down the ramp without looking back, confident the team would be following.

"Zero," Fox began. "Distance to the device?"

"Approximately five kilometers due east," the AI answered.

One of the soldiers whispered something involving the word civilian, prompting a laugh from his teammate.

Even to Fox's sensitive hearing, he remained unaware of what the marines were talking about. To him, civilian life was a completely foreign concept outside of a text book or two. Dr. Vladimir wanted to make sure he was aware of its existence, if not for the sole purpose of allowing Fox to blend in better on his stealth and recon related missions. "What was that Marine?" He called out, trying to hide the curiosity in his voice, though he seemed to do it well enough that the special operatives straightened themselves out.

"Nothing, sir!" the man answered in a quick, panicked voice.

"Just ignore them," one of the older men in the squad said. "They're just a bunch of kids who still think this is fun." The soldier sprinted for a few seconds to catch up with the child leading them, walking next to him. "Me, on the other hand, I've been doing this job for a while, and I've seen... special cases like you before," he continued, quiet enough that the others couldn't hear. "I know what's best to keep our noses out of."

"Good to know I have some experience on my side." He commented with a sadistic grin. "Hurry up jarheads!" Fox yelled in disgust at the sight behind him of lollygagging ODST's. Instantly, most of them were at Fox's heels, eager to please their commanding officer despite his appearance.

Fox lead the team through the rubble of a recently firebombed city. Apparently this colony had been the victim of some Sangheili Journeyists, or so the information Fox had received before the last mission said. He didn't really care. As long as the enemy didn't ambush him again, and he could get away with the artifact this time, the ruin's origins didn't matter to Fox.

"Sir, why are we here? This place seems t-" The youngest ODST was cut off when a pink crystal pierced his temple, killing him instantly.

Within half a second, both the helljumpers and Fox were on alert while Fox looked around the desert dunes in a frantic manner. He knew the exact spot the fragment had been shot out of but he didn't see anyone there and the sand made it rather difficult to gain a proper scent of the area. Looking over his shoulder, Fox noticed the Marine's were looking in various directions causing the boy to snort, as if he couldn't comprehend that regular humans couldn't calculate all the variables needed to pin point the exact location of a sniper.

Reaching down into one of the many slots on his recon-class armor, the boy pulled out a small, dull knife that was akin to a butter-knife. Shifting his fingers, he started to twirl it around until the blade was face down with an assassin's grip. Just as the agent finished pulling out the useless instrument, the buzzing of plasma blazing though the air hit his ears, causing him to duck down. A second later, the plasma hit the ground at an angle that would have been both his head and upper torso.

"Hey fuck-faces, this is an order," he said in a very calm tone despite the use of vulgarities. "Hold the line, I'll be back." He said before bursting off into a full run straight at the patrol squad. By the time he already gained a better view of their enemies, he estimated that most of them were jackal rangers with a single Sangheili Zealot leading the pack. This wasn't a formal formation and it did serve its purpose in confusing the boy until he realized just how bad a shape the unit that had been sent here was in. Normally the golden armored swordsmen were sent on solo missions or in packs of other Zealots in order to recover items of religious importance, but the fact that one was leading a bunch of rangers spoke volumes to the boy.

Glancing back, he saw how little cover the ODST squad had. He knew at least half of them would be killed before he could take out the snipers, but it didn't matter. They'd keep the enemy distracted, and therefore serve their purpose to him. As he ran past the aliens, he noticed a gray skinned creature charging at him with a fist clenching a sword of plasma. Pulling his knife back, Fox threw it straight at the warrior's head, shooting straight though the energy shielding, armor and everything else in between it and the creature's brain. The religious official fell to the ground instantly, its weapon discarded while Fox placed his foot against its head and gave his knife a harsh pull.

Two of the four jackals turned toward him, hissing something that was either an insult or a threat as they fired. Fox rolled forward under the line of crystalline spikes and came up mere inches in front of the enemy soldiers. He drove the deceptively dull blade into one's throat. The other snarled and swiped at him with the spiked back end of its gun. Fox once again ducked under the attack and aimed an attack at the second jackal's throat.

There was a shout as one of the enemies still shooting at his squad hit its target. Fox snapped his attention to the snipers and kicked the corpse by his feet toward them. One of the jackals lost its footing and slid clumsily down the dune while the other turned angrily toward Fox.

Fox dashed towards the alien with a neutral look as he struck his enemy down without a second though. Turning around, he looked down into the valley to noticed two of the men in his squad weren't moving as their bodies laid in the sand. "Let's move," he said to the other four, not understanding the looks of hatred they shot him when he refused to let them mourn their friends.

Running up the sandy hills, he saw the objective area not that far off in the distance.

Fox jogged tirelessly through the shifting sand. He reached up every few minutes to wipe away the layer of fine sand that kept building up on his visor, and decided that longer legs would be useful for this sort of work. He was designed to move quickly, but there was only so much he could do with a child's body. He noted with annoyance that the remaining members of his squad had no trouble keeping up.

As he endlessly marched on, his destination becoming closer and closer in sight, he started to think though the various memories he held within him in order to help pass the time. But only one memory came in particular and it was made shortly after he was born.

_He couldn't see very well yet as he had just been injected with another painful chemical that was now circulating though his bloodstream and it seemed to affect his vision, however his hearing held a noticeable difference in sensitivity. _

_"Well done, though I must say, he looks a tad bit too much like your other subjects," he heard. The voice sounded like Dr. Vladimir just...sharper. _

_"Well I did use the same base as the others, though I suppose with some plastic surgery, you could alter it a bit. The subject seems to be responding well to the stimuli, though I'm sorry to say that given his advanced aging, the alpha cell will counteract it as a poison in his system and if our theory is right, it will stop him from aging," announced a female voice._

_Then there was a third one, he didn't know who it was though. "Are you sure we should be talking about this when the subject is nearby? He could be able to hear us."_

_"Nonsense, Stalker, he's well out of any cognitive capacity. Now, I must ask, didn't you try that advanced aging technique on one of your own experiments a few years ago? How did that ever turn out?"_

_"It was partially successful," the woman answered. "The subject reached prime age in less than ten years, though his aging could not be slowed back to normal levels. If we want soldiers who are only capable of fighting their best for a few months, then it worked well."_

_"So, back to the drawing board, then?" one of the men asked._

_"Something like that," the woman answered vaguely. "I'm looking into other solutions."_

_"What about the Alpha Cells?" The more Irish accent offered. "In our other test subjects, it's been shown to reverse aging when placed in a few select areas of the body, though it is usually permanent. I'd offer the use of the subject for harvesting but he wouldn't be ready for extractions until he's a bit more stable in a few years."_

_"No, it doesn't really matter that much; Subject Nickel will most likely expire in less time than that. I'd be surprised if he's even able to make it past two years from now. Besides, it wouldn't be practical for other test subjects given how hard it is to obtain the alpha cells."_

_"Surely that would be better than simply letting the subject die," the third voice argued._

_"Observing the advancement of age has provided much needed data for future subjects," the female voice answered. "He's much more valuable in his current state, as an ongoing experiment."_

_"You know, you should stop letting your conscience get in the way of our testing, it's not good for productivity." _

_"Sorry, I'm a psychiatrist, it's what I do. Still, I think we should start injecting the last of his implants; if we're right, this will give him the same abilities as those AI's that Dr. Church is always going on about; where is the old' chap anyway?" _

_"He said he couldn't make it but he is highly interested in the results of his work. This was his pet project, after all."_

_"Personally, I wish he wouldn't let his obsession get in the way of his research," the woman said, a note of disdainful annoyance creeping into the words. "He is best suited to observe this step in the process."_

_"He already created the implants," one of the men argued. "We can handle the rest."_

_"Besides," the Irish man added. "You don't exactly have room to talk about obsessions."_

_"In a way, none of us do I suppose; still let's get this over with." She replied. That was the last thing Fox remembered before a wave of pain shot though his body._

Snapping back to reality, the armored child noticed that he was rapidly approaching his destination with the knowledge that his target was only a few yards away. After several more seconds, he skidded to a halt, looking around with displeasure at the sight before him. Various ruins sat before him, each with a glowing green lighting spread throughout their infrastructure. Dr. Vladimir had instructed him that this was called a forerunner relic and that inside was a jar filled with very special dust that he needed.

Fox carefully picked his way around a few fallen pillars, followed closely by the ODSTs, searching for the center of the ruins. It looked like some sort of temple, but he guessed that in actuality it had once been a research facility. The forerunners seemed to like putting religious symbolism in their scientific lives. Fox crept past various long-dead display consoles and walls that looked like they could crumble any second, glancing around in search of more Covenant. So far he didn't see any signs that they'd been here.

Creeping his way over to the center of the room, a large burst of natural light from the ceiling sprayed upon a pillar holding a small, steel contraption. At this point, Fox felt the distinct sensation that someone was watching him, and he pulled out his knife; not for his own protection, but to slaughter anyone who got between himself and the package.

Fox continued his journey toward the artifact, slowing his pace to keep a careful eye out. Just as he was about to step up to the pedestal, he caught a glimpse of movement out of the corner of his eye. He quickly grabbed the object and held it to his chest before being tackled to the ground by a blur. Fox kept himself between the artifact and his invisible attacker as he tried to squirm out from under the weight. His enemy's identity was soon revealed as a glowing sword flared to life and came arcing toward his head. Fox finally pulled away from the zealot's arms and rolled away from the blade an instant before it would have hit him.

Fox stood and saw three more blurs of camouflaged aliens running toward him. He guessed they must all be zealots. "Hold them off!" Fox shouted to his squad. He knew he couldn't fight that many of the elite soldiers at once. Rather than try, the boy turned and ran, leaving his ill prepared team to slow down the aliens.

Fox heard the screams of the ODSTs as, one by one, they were each overwhelmed and killed by the enemy soldiers. By the time the zealots finished with the soldiers, Fox was well out of their line of sight. The hulking aliens each of them to let out a loud roar of anger when they realized they'd lost the artifact. Fox shuddered slightly at the sound, deciding he'd made the right move in sacrificing his men.

It didn't take even half the time to make it back to the ship as the agent was running at full speed, he had the package and bodily harm didn't matter as long as he was able to get back to his ship in time.

The ship's ramp began to lower when Fox approached, JaN having been programmed to sense the boy's return. "Get us home," Fox ordered urgently, panting slightly from the long run. He knew they needed to hurry. The zealots wouldn't be far behind.

"Affirmative," the onboard AI complied, starting the ship's engines before Fox had even sat down. "And what of your squad?" it asked in an unfeeling, computerized tone.

He glanced back at the ship's rear window, seeing the aliens finally catching up. One held the head of an ODST, or perhaps just his helmet. Fox wasn't sure.

"They didn't make it," Fox said absentmindedly, securing the artifact into a protected compartment.

"Understood. Logging mission report. Did you retrieve the objective?"

"Yes," Fox answered, an almost pleased smile finding its way to his face.

Within a few moments, the ship began making its departure into the lower atmosphere, their mobile orbital headquarters sitting just above the planet inside a large asteroid belt. This was one of the few things that he seemed to be able to make himself enjoy, completing a mission and the reward would be all the sweeter when he managed to get back to base and find a computer. Of course, this wouldn't be too hard as none of the terminals in the base were monitored, that would keep records of the more illegal things that went on there, not that Fox minded much.

Fox tried to reign in his impatience as the ship docked. He was so close to getting answers. He nearly ran out of the ship when the ramp finally lowered, handing the box containing the artifact to the scientist waiting for him. He was just about to run out of the hangar when Zero announced that Dr. Vladimir wanted to speak to him.

Instantly, the Recycle Agent halted his tracks at the announcement. This wasn't something that normally happened; usually, he gave whatever was needed of him to the scientists and he was left alone until his next mission. Biting his bottom lip, he turned around and started to go into the direction of his creator's office. In a short time, he found himself standing front of the scientist's door, now looking rather impatient as he banged against it. "Sir, you requested my presences?" he asked, doing his best to sound confused.

"Aye boyo, come on in will ya."

Pressing the small white button next to the door frame, Fox watched as the door slid open, revealing a rather cloudy, smoke filled room which caused the younger male to gag a bit. He wasn't used to the smell of cigars or the smoke that came with it and for the most part, Dr. Vladimir did his best to keep it away from the boy out of habit.

"Sir?"

The doctor barely acknowledged his presence, eyes fixed to the document on the screen before him.

"Sir?" Fox repeated, this time in genuine confusion. Dr. Vladimir cared greatly for efficiency. He'd never once summoned the young agent without immediately stating the reason. "Sir, is there something you need?"

"Aye," the man finally answered, turning his eyes to the boy. "It appears our project is to be put under a bit of scrutiny soon," he said, turning the screen to face Fox, who quickly scanned its contents. It was a letter, stating that the Oversight Subcommittee had received a complaint about Project Recycle, and therefore the project was going to be put under investigation. There was also a lot of space filling fluff about how sorry the writer was for the inconvenience, and how they hoped the matter could be resolved quickly so as to not impede research, but Fox only focused on the important parts.

"I see... Am I to be terminated?" Fox asked in a curious tone. To his knowledge, Dr. Vladimir honestly didn't care about his well being and he wouldn't put it past the Irishman to destroy anything that could put him in harm's way, the agent himself included. Personally, Fox didn't care one way or the other; his life was a living hell within this laboratory. Between the punishments he received for his failures and the implants under his skin that caused near constant pain, ceasing his existence didn't sound so bad at times. The hard part was actually doing it considering any self inflicted wounds, no matter the capacity, seemed to heal up rather quickly.

"No boyo, you're going to be staying with an associate of mine for awhile. Think of it as an extended down time; oh and while you're there, I want you to deliver this to CHurch before you leave, it's a shipment of harvested Alpha Cells."

At the mention of the stems cells, Fox instinctively touched the back of his neck; the doctor never used any form of morphine or sleeping agent and instead had him awake for the extremely painful procedure of extracting the cells from his body. Several long needles were shot into his spinal cord, hips and various other parts of his body and they'd extract small pockets of the rare cells. It was an inexplicably painful procedure that lasted for a few hours.

"Now it doesn't have to be right away, he's more than likely going to be too busy to see you anyway so just keep it locked away in your room until you leave."

"Y-yes sir." He replied, shivering slightly at the sight of the brief case. "Sir, are there any stipulations I should be aware of?"

"Just the usual," the doctor answered distractedly. "Church should understand not to ask about the project, but if he or anyone else does you are not to speak of our research. Treat this like a stay on any other military outpost. Avoid the soldiers there if at all possible. Don't go snooping around their computers. Just keep your head down and behave."

"Yes sir. ETD?"

"About an hour or so, Zero will make sure to contact you; in the mean time, I would tell you to go pack your things but considering I've never seen you take off your armor since you've got it, I won't bother. Just stay out of trouble in the mean time."

"Of course sir." He said before scurrying off into the darkness of their base.

Fox ran back to the small room he'd been granted as sleeping quarters, not that he used it often. He usually only slept when the doctor sedated him after an experiment. Still, it was the one place in the base he could be certain no one else would be. That solitude helped keep him sane most days.

As he ran back to his room, something caught his eye; normally the terminals remained dead in order to preserve the costs of power for the base. Making his way over, he let out a curious mewling noise, curiously clicked on the holo-pad.

"Welcome, Agent Fox. Is there something I may assist you with?" Zero said, his voice echoing throughout the console.

"Zero, why is this terminal turned on."

"You have been granted access to the terminal usage as your cybernetics have been deactivated, I am assuming per protocol of "trust" that Dr. Vladimir has given you allowances?"

"Y-yes, of course. Zero, please access records regarding Agent Fox and make an isolated copy of yourself for transfer, I may need your help on my upcoming mission." He said, lying though his teeth.

The files appeared on the screen. "I will be temporarily unavailable for 13.52 seconds as I make the copy," the program announced before disappearing. Fox acknowledged the AI's words with a shallow nod as he searched through the information. Unfortunately, for all the many files there were, very few held any of the information he wanted. At least a dozen files pertained to the cosmetic alterations Dr. Vladimir made to him during his infancy, while others detailed his early training and missions reports, though these were encrypted. Fox sighed in disappointment, copying the few useful records to a small device on his wrist.

Shifting though the last few of the files, he found one that may have been of some use to him.

"Subject: Fox, designation Agent of Recycle; Creation."

However, when the boy opened the file, it held the letter's A, C, T, and G repeatedly; it didn't make much sense to him, which disappointed the boy greatly, but he still saved it none the less. Once the file was downloaded, Zero's voice echoed from the device on his wrist. "Transfer has been completed, Agent Fox."

"Thanks, Zero," Fox said, shutting down the terminal once he'd copied every file he thought could be remotely useful. He quickly left the hall, putting as much distance between himself and the terminal as possible. He knew Dr. Vladimir would probably be too busy ensuring nothing incriminating was still around when the investigation started to notice that someone had accessed the files, but he still didn't want to stick around.

Making his way to his room, Fox discarded his helmet on top of his bed. Looking around, he set the case containing the stem cells against the wall before looking in the near empty corner of his closet as he tried to find his supply bag. Stuffing it full of three shirts and three pairs of shorts, he felt that he was ready, aside from the small Fox plushy that he kept sitting on top of his bed. That he made sure to put carefully in the bag with the head sticking out so it could "breath."

The stuffed Fox plush had been his constant friend throughout the years, it had been given to him for his birthday before the Director became what he was today; at one time, the man did have a morality and the agent suspected that he felt bad for the things he had himself do, so he gave him the Fox as an apology.

Fox looked down at his armored hands. There was still some blood dried onto them, both brownish red splotches from himself and the lab aide, and some purple and blue from the Covenant he'd fought. His hands began to shake and he clenched them into tight fists. He quickly moved to the room's wash station and rinsed the gloves with water. It removed some of the stains, but a few still remained. Fox sighed. It would have to do.

He sat on the side of his cot and stared at the stuffed toy head. "It won't be enough," he said out loud. "The information I got, it won't be enough to do anything. I'll never be able to figure this out." He knew the doll couldn't hear him, but it felt good to actually say something.

He ran his fingers though the Fox plush's fur in a calming action. It felt good to do so even if he couldn't really feel it through the gloves. He had never given a name to the object; he didn't think it really needed one considering he was the only one that talked to it.

"Come on, we need to get going." He said in a quiet tone as he slung the supply package across his shoulder. Grabbing his helmet, he slid it back on, the negative pressure giving off a small his as his armor sealed tight.

He trotted to the hangar for the third time that day. It was strange. He rarely had missions in such quick succession. Fox shrugged off the abnormal feeling and made his way to the ship he always flew in.

Climbing into the deck of his craft, he looked around at how empty it was; normally there would be a scientist he'd have to escort or some soldiers to go into combat with. He almost never flew in a ship so empty. It was spooky. "JaN, please launch the ship to the targeted location, UNSC Special Operations Ship, Mother of Invention."

"Of course sir, please fasten your seat belt, we will be entering hyperspace in a matter of moments; however it is advisable you use a different ship as despite the augmentations, this ship is only a proto-type and is untested in such enviro-"

"Now."

"As you wish, sir," the Navigational AI repeated. Fox felt the rumble of the ship's engines starting as he fastened the safety restraints in the copilot's seat.

"ETA?" he requested through a slight yawn. Takeoffs always made him a little sleepy; something about the sound of the engines and feeling of movement was very relaxing. He'd once imagined it might be what being carried by a parent would feel like, though he had no experience to compare it to.

"Three hours sir; assuming the ship doesn't blow up." Replied the AI, showing a rare sense of humor. The navigational device usually remained just what it was, a program to pilot the ship but on rare occasions it was known to break its programming parameter.

"Very well, I'll be reserving my power output until our destination has been reached. After that point, I want you to return to the ship's hanger."

"Of course sir."

Fox fell asleep fairly quickly, his mind frantically shifting through dreams of painful surgeries and firefights he wasn't designed to survive.

"Agent Fox, we will be landing in ten minutes; I would advise waking up in order to reach full capacity when leaving the safety of the ship." Zero said from inside Fox's wrist. "Project Freelancer is a much larger organization then our own, it is best to keep your wits about you."

"Right," Fox said sleepily, yawning as he sat up. "Thanks again, Zero."

"I am merely performing within my programming, Agent Fox," the AI answered, which Fox translated to mean "no problem."

Soon enough Fox felt the slight shift from the ship's artificial gravity to that of the larger ship they'd landed in. There was a soft bump as JaN landed, and then the back ramp of the ship lowered. Fox scrambled out quickly, knowing JaN would immediately take the ship back to his own base again. Project Recycle had only been given a small number of ships, so it would be suspicious if one was missing during the investigation.

Stretching his limbs, Fox removed his helmet with a small yawn escaping his mouth. The boy gained several odd stare's from the large crew hanging around the hanger, a sight that Fox was very much unused too as he put his helmet back on in order to hide the uncomfortable look he felt forming on his face. People actually made him rather nervous.

"Hey!" a shout rang out, breaking through his thoughts. "Kid, you wanna stay three dimensional you should get off the landing pad!" a woman in grey and teal armor says, grabbing his arm and pulling him back just as a ship came through the hangar's force field and flew toward where he'd been standing.

Fox jerked his arm out of her grip, uncomfortable with being touched. "Technically, it is not possible to completely dissuade my Z axis as even if I were to be crushed, remnants of my body would still remain in a three dimensional state," he said absentmindedly. The comment earned him a weird look from the woman.

"Look, just keep your eyes open around here," she advised. A man in white armor with a gold domed helmet stood next to her. He had extraordinarily broad shoulders, causing his waist to look small in comparison, though in reality everything about the seven foot tall behemoth seemed large. "This is a fast moving military project," the woman continued, earning a snorted laugh from her companion.

"A fact of which I am well aware," Fox countered testily. "And you can tell your curvy friend there to keep the laughter to himself."

The giant lunged toward him, only to be stopped by the woman's arm across his chest. It was clear she wasn't holding him back through strength, so Fox assumed he had some other reason to obey the smaller woman.

The woman looked closely at the boy, seeming to take in the armor he wore and his body stance for the first time. "Y'know, I wouldn't be surprised if you were aware," she commented to no one in particular. "Just watch where you're going. It'd suck if you got crushed on your first day."

"I'll try to do so," Fox said before walking toward the hangar's exit. He didn't want to risk hanging around if the monster of a Freelancer came after him. He sighed. If that was his welcome, he had a feeling this would turn into an interesting assignment.


End file.
